The present invention pertains generally to identification and tracking systems. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a system and method for permitting users to uniquely identify themselves while partaking in recreational activities on the ski slope or the beach.
Recreational activities, particularly sporting activities, are enjoyable for many reasons. Many recreational activities include some form of physical exercise which can either be part of a competition or part of a solo activity. Although the physical nature of recreational activities is enjoyable, other benefits include being outdoors in the fresh air and interacting with other people. It is often said that the social aspect of recreational activities is the main reason why most people enjoy such activities.
Some recreational activities, such as softball, volleyball, soccer and other team sports are inherently social since they require interaction among a plurality of team members. However, other sports such as downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, walking and jogging, do not necessarily lend themselves easily to social interaction between other people. These individualistic recreational activities, and other activities similar to them, could be greatly enhanced if a more social component was added to the activity.
Another drawback of individualistic recreational activities is that the person taking part in such an activity may find themselves in need of assistance. For example, if such a person is missing for an usually long period of time, it may be necessary to institute a search for the person. However, if the person was skiing, hiking or walking by themselves, a search can take unduly long and require a much greater amount of resources than would otherwise be necessary if the search party had a general idea of the whereabouts of the person. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for increasing the enjoyment and safety of individualistic recreational activities.
The present invention is a system and method for identifying and tracking people who engage in selective individualistic recreational activities. The system includes a selectively activatable identification means which can uniquely identify the person engaged in the individualistic recreational activity. The identification means impresses a person""s unique identification or other desired information upon an impressionable medium associated with the recreational activity, such as sand, snow or mud. The identification means may be changed as desired by the system user and also may be activated or deactivated as desired by the system user.